glutamate metabolic process L-glutamine metabolic process ammonia assimilation cycle https://github.com/geneontology/go-ontology/issues/28527 MetaCyc:AMMASSIM-PWY GO:0019676 MetaCyc:PWY-6963 glutamate metabolism via glutamine and ammonia glutamate metabolic process via glutamine and ammonia MetaCyc:PWY-6964 MetaCyc:PWY-3282 biological_process The pathway by which ammonia is processed and incorporated into a cell. In an energy-rich (glucose-containing), nitrogen-poor environment, glutamine synthetase and glutamate synthase form an ammonia assimilatory cycle, in which ammonia is incorporated into L-glutamate to form L-glutamine, which then combines with alpha-ketoglutarate to regenerate L-glutamate. This ATP-dependent cycle is essential for nitrogen-limited growth and for steady-state growth with some sources of nitrogen. nitrogen utilization